Information workers are people who create, use, or manipulate information. These workers may often employ multiple software host applications to complete their tasks. As an example, information workers may use office productivity software, such as MICROSOFT® OFFICE® host applications, to input, modify, or format information. This information may be provided by and/or to one or more other host applications, such as line of business (“LOB”) host applications.
LOB host applications may sometimes have client-side components that may operate on a client computing device and server-side components that may operate on a server computing device. The server-side components may typically employ an associated data store for storing data that may be provided to the information workers. Further, server-side components of such LOB host applications may employ relational databases and data warehouses for maintaining business related data. To access data made available by the LOB applications, information workers may find themselves switching back and forth between their office productivity software and the LOB host applications.